


Happily

by ihaveaplan



Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: 2018, Claire is an OB/GYN, Drug Use, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Mistaken Identity, Modern AU, Past Drug Addiction, Recovery, Rehabilitation, Weddings, takes place in Glen Affric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 17:25:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15868293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihaveaplan/pseuds/ihaveaplan
Summary: (working title. reccomend something if you have an idea.)Claire laughed, setting down the wine. “I’m the bride’s gynecologist, and I delivered the small one-” Claire gestured to little three-year-old James, who was dancing a clumsy reel with his mum “-over there, and I’m his godmother too.”-Following the death of his mother, father, and brother, Jamie leaves home and moves all over England, managing a drug addiction that keeps him bouncing between recovery and relapse. After hitting rock bottom and almost dying, he tries to get clean for good- and attend his sister's wedding, where he meets the beautiful, if a bit brazen, Dr. Claire Beauchamp. A reception full of drunken shenanigans later, Jamie wakes up with a bloody hangover and something he's lacked for too long: hope.





	Happily

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to Spotify's "Your Favorite Coffeehouse" playlist while writing this and the song that really influenced my characterization of Jamie was "Bees" by The Ballroom Thieves. Do yourself a favor and go listen to it.

Weddings were a barely endurable experience when you have had the pleasure of walking in on your ex-fiance with another woman whilst you were engaged- and one whom you had loved since you were twenty-one years old. And yet, Doctor Claire Beauchamp OB/GYN found herself sitting at a neatly dressed table beside the dance floor, sipping wine and waving at passing couples who called out to her. 

At first, she had thought not to attend. She could easily make an excuse- she was part of the only OB/GYN private practice in Glen Affric, a small town near Inverness. As such, her schedule was rather strained- no expectant mother in Glen Affric wanted to go to a hospital in Inverness to have her baby far from home when they could deliver at Claire’s practice, neatly situated in an old, renovated manor house. It was through her practice and the situation of it that she came to know Janet Fraser, who lived in a large 18th-century manor named “Lallybroch” with her beau, Ian. Janet- who affectionately insisted that Claire call her “Jenny”- was descended of one of the historic Lairds of Clan Fraser of Lovat- and her Jacobite ancestors had somehow been able to maintain their ownership of the beautiful manor after the horribly failed uprising of 1745. 

Jenny had been one of the patients that were referred to Claire after she took the position at the practice, and they had immediately hit it off. They had met when Jenny came in for a pap smear, and Claire had begun seeing a lot more of her when she came in a month and a half later, 4 weeks pregnant. Claire had conducted an emergency operation when Jenny had suffered a dangerous placental abruption, and miraculously, both mother and child had made a full recovery. Jenny had felt indebted to Claire after she was discharged from the hospital following her postnatal transfer, and insisted on making Claire godmother to her son, James. Jenny had lamented somberly at the Christening how she had wished for her estranged brother, Jamie to be there to be the godfather, but he was in “Lord-knows-where, England,” in and out rehab and never returned her letters. And so, Claire had gradually become a more and more active figure in Jenny and Ian’s family, and when they tied the knot, of course, they had invited her.

Once Claire reflected on all of this, she realized she had to attend. 

So now here she was, two glasses deep in red wine, tracing the tablecloth embroidery with her finger lazily, and exchanging pleasantries with the odd patient of Fraser who came and said hi. When a person-sized shadow fell over her in the outdoor lighting, she slowly met the pair of brilliant blue eyes that gazed down at her, and was struck with the notion that this was clearly not a patient of here, and no Fraser that she knew- and Claire had become acquainted with Frasers in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Gathering herself and make a best attempted to push down her rising tipsiness, she nodded in acknowledgment of his presence. He regarded her by saying, “Yer sitting all alone at a wedding- during the dances no less. Why?”

She shrugged, sipping her wine. “I haven’t a date, and I don’t fancy dancing with strangers if you were going to ask.”  
He chuckled, replying “Aye, a feisty one. Well, then let us be not strangers, Sassenach. How do you know the happy couple?” 

Claire laughed, setting down the wine. “I’m the bride’s gynecologist, and I delivered the small one-” Claire gestured to little three-year-old James, who was dancing a clumsy reel with his mum “-over there, and I’m his godmother too.” 

The man went wide-eyed for a fleeting moment, then inquired “I ken yer Claire, then?”

Claire nodded, before summoning a tone of faux-elitism. “Doctor Beauchamp, MD OB/GYN will suffice, thank you.” The redhead looked shocked at this turn, and Claire quickly added, “I’m kidding! Call me Claire. How do you know the couple, then?”

The man took on a prideful expression, and responded: “I’m the bride’s brother.”

Claire snorted. The man looked indignant, and added: “I dinna ken what’s so funny to you about that.”

Claire took a deep breath to calm down and replied, “I call bullshit. Willie died at twelve and didn’t have flaming tresses from the pictures I’ve seen, and Jenny hasn’t heard from Jamie since before I was her doctor! Nice try, bud.”

The Scotsman was well annoyed by now, as he shot back, “Well doctor, Diya ken what Jamie looked like from the pictures?”

Claire paled. “No…” she murmured out loud as she fixated on his face. Now she could see it- the bright red hair, blue eyes like unsettled seas, tall, and built like an ox. This was Jamie to a “t,” but Jamie had been gone since he was 19 years old and had a drug addiction. The man that stood before her in a neat dress shirt, blazer and Fraser kilt didn’t look like the sorrowful, malnourished boy she had imagined when Jenny told her about him. He looked… good. Really good. 

Jamie rolled his eyes. “Well then, Sassenach, I’ll be on my way.” and started to get up to leave.

“No no no no no!” Claire fumbled out, pulling him back down by the arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think-”

Jamie shook his head. “No, ye dinna think.”

Claire sighed. “I apologize. I didn’t expect you to be here, Jenny made it sound like you didn’t want to return.”

Jamie looked beyond her to Lallybroch further down the field, and replied, “Well, I wasna going tae miss my sister’s wedding.” He had a wistful look about him as he added, “And I missed my home.” 

Claire, who still had her hand wrapped around Jamie’s arm, absentmindedly loosened her grip on him as she watched a cocktail of emotions dance in his eyes. He offered her a smile that was clearly mustered, and continued, “I wisha coulda been at the wee lad’s christening, but I was in rehab, ye ken. Hada bad bout of molly, ended up in the emergency room… then constable's office… eventually, let my poor arse go and sent me to rehab.” Claire was made a little uncomfortable by this information, and Jamie quickly- and awkwardly- backtracked. “But uh, I’m glad they've found someone to be godparent- I mean, ye ken I wish I coulda been the godfather- but really I’d be a terrible godfather- I’m sure yer responsible, yer a doctor- I’m uh, not- diya want more wine? I feel like whiskey, let me-” he reached for Claire’s near empty wine glass, but she stopped him.

“Stop. Breathe.” She ordered in her operating room voice. He took a shaky breath and slumped over in his seat a bit. “I’m sorry, Claire. This is a terrible first impression.” 

Claire laughed and replied, “Jamie, many of my first impressions involve bursting to-be mothers yelling at me not to ‘fucking touch them’ and overwhelmed husbands and boyfriends crying in the delivery room. I think you’re doing exceptionally well.” 

He laughed a hearty laugh and settled his face into his hands. Claire gazed into him, trying to gauge what he was feeling, to pin down something that seemed to be changing like the wind.

“But yes, I could do with more wine, and I’m sure a whiskey would calm your nerves a bit. You can escort me to the bar if you’d fancy that.”

The pair shared a laugh over everything and nothing at all as they journeyed to the open bar.

\---

Several drinks and giggles later, it was late into the night and guests had begun to dissipate, leaving mostly Frasers and young couples without children to mind. Jenny had excused herself to go put young James to bed, and a boisterous, big, and affectionate woman called Mrs. Fitz volunteered to Nanny him so Jenny and Ian could enjoy the rest of the reception. Claire was still trying to figure out her relation to the Frasers, but everyone and their mum seemed to know her, so it was hard to pin her role down.

With the dancefloor more clear now, Jamie and Claire twirled and danced drunkenly and clumsily- but happily- under the pale moon and fairy lights. 

As Claire tripped over her feet and fell giggling into the tall man’s arms, he wrapped his arms around her and murmured into her hair, “I dinna ken what’s in the air tonight, mo nighean donn, but it feels so good.” with the last word he gave her a squeeze and they both laughed again. 

“It’s love,” Claire replied sing-songily. “Everyone loves love at weddings, everyone’s in love at a wedding, everyone’s loved at a wedding.” she wriggled out from Jamie’s grasp and he spun her around him. “I like you more than Frank.” she stated, like a child might state they like chocolate more than vanilla.

Jamie dipped her gleefully and replied, “Oh, aye? Who’s Frank?”

Claire pouted like a toddler. “My ex-fiance. He didn’t love me, so he kept putting off marrying me.”

Jamie bumped her nose with his. “A damned fool, I ken that.”

As Jenny returned to the reception, she was met by Ian cautiously observing the drunken, dancing duo. “Do ya see this, Jenny?” he asked, gesturing to them. 

Jenny’s heart swelled with emotions that hurt her chest and threatened tears to see her broken brother laughing with someone- to see him happy, when she hadn’t seen him at all in years. Wiping a rogue tear from her cheek, she nodded. “Oh, aye. And I’m glad of it.”

\---

The next morning, Claire woke with a pounding headache and limited memory in the guestroom of Lallybroch with her phone buzzing with a new text. Squinting at its light, she read “Throbbing bad hangover. Canna remember much but I remember you and me dancing. “Fancy” an outing when this passes?”

Claire squinted harder at the new contact name. “Jamie Fraser?” 

Then it all came flooding back to her.


End file.
